Farm Life

Photo is of June Afternoon, by Konstantine Rodko, from the cover of the 1991 edition of Trente arpents by Flammarion.

Trente arpents ( translated into English as « Thirty Acres, » but « Twenty-Five » would have been more accurate) is the tragic story of the rise and fall of turn-of-the-last-century farmer Euchariste Moisan, as told by québécois novelist Ringuet (Philippe Panneton, b. 1895 – d. 1960). Contemporary farmers can still identify with Moisan, who, by dint of immeasurable effort, hard work and selfless sacrifice over many years, became a prosperous farmer in his 50s. But life’s rewards are not always proportionate to the efforts expended, and a nefarious combination of misfortune and poor judgment lead Moisan to his downfall, the loss of his farm, and an end-of-life exile in a New England town. Ringuet captures the essence of the farmer’s soul, his deep attachment to the land and the changing seasons, and his innermost conviction that nothing is earned without effort and sacrifice. Ringuet masterfully portrays Euchariste Moisan and other characters in the novel, endearing them to the reader who hopes for a happy ending, despite the unfolding tragedy. The author’s knowledge of things agricultural is impressive, and readers with some familiarity with life on the farm will be surprised by his references to activities and ways of doing which persist today, despite years of mechanisation (in the 30s, farmwork was with (real) horsepower, without man-made chemicals and with lots and lots of elbow grease). The most surprising aspect of the book is its literary style, which ranges from a sophisticated, almost academic, prose to the rough joual of its protagonists. Many of the expressions he quotes are still popular today. The book ends almost ruefully, as Ringuet makes the reader share Moisan’s regret that his life has not ended as he had intended. Destiny has decided otherwise, as he loses everything and is forced into American exile instead of a peaceful existence on his land, surrounded by his loved ones – a truly tragic end for a man whose first  (and possibly only) true love was his land.

We should have known this before embarking on our agricultural adventure, but it is only recently that we learned that the patron saint of gardeners is Saint Fiacre (Fiachra is an ancient pre-Christian name from Ireland). Apparently he was as effective at healing haemorrhoids as he was at growing turnips. Saint Fiacre, represented more often than not holding a spade, was long a popular patron saint. Although he lived in Ireland and France in the 7^th century A.D., his popularity surged in the 10^th century. His interest in things agricultural manifested itself, or so the story goes, when he founded a monastery and gardens, the bounty of which was shared with beggars, passersby and travelers. Legend also has it that the Bishop Faro de Meaux allowed him as much land as he might entrench in one day with a furrow, so Fiacre turned up the earth with the point of his staff, toppling trees and uprooting briers and weeds. It is this staff which morphed over time into his gardener’s spade. Finally, there is the bit about the origin of the French word ‘fiacre,’ used to designate a small horse-drawn four-wheeled carriage. This term is attributed to the fact that the Hotel de Saint Fiacre in Paris rented carriages beginning in the late 17^th century. People who had no idea who Fiacre was referred to the small coaches for hire as “fiacres”. And so it is that the patron saint of gardeners, almost miraculously it seems, became the patron saint of … taxi drivers.

With the mercury dipping below 20 degrees Celsius in these parts, we can speak in earnest of winter delights (albeit sans snow). Our cold room is empty, the farm implements are stored and the few chores remaining to be completed without getting frostbitten have been ticked off our list. And so we resume writing, after a brief hiatus, to keep you posted on what’s up. We are in the thick of preparing for the coming year, having spent the past two weeks compulsively flipping through seed catalogues to place our seed orders. While at first glance tedious – vegetable varieties seem infinite, the seed selection process is a portent of hope. We revisit the past season, our successful, and not-so-successful, plantings, and vow next season will be our best yet as we select a better variety of a given vegetable. Because, as well you must understand – it’s never the farmer’s fault… Our orders have finally been sent off.  We should receive our seeds in January; they’ll be kept cool and dry, like garlic, until we start up the greenhouse, towards the end of March.

In the meantime, Arlington Gardens wishes you a happy holiday season and a healthy 2012. See you next year!

A week ago we held our first formal farm event for our CSA members, a méchoui . The weather couldn’t have been more perfect, after a couple of weeks of on-again, off-again rain – a balmy, sun-filled afternoon with nary a cloud in sight.

We hadn’t really planned it when we chose the date, but Sunday, September 11, was also the 9^th edition of the annual ‘portes ouvertes sur les fermes du Québec’ event. Nearly 100 people showed up at Arlington Gardens for our méchoui and a tour of the farm, while more than 126,000 visited farms across Quebec the same day.

For those of you wondering where the term méchoui comes from, Wikipedia offers the following brief explanation: “In the cuisine of Northern Africa, méchoui is a whole sheep or a lamb spit-roasted on a barbecue. The word comes from the Arabic word šawa,which means ‘grilled, roasted’. This dish is very popular in North Africa.” There was no question we had to do a méchoui as our first farm happening…A banal corn roast just wouldn’t cut it. In addition to the de rigueur spit-roasted sheep, we also had ham hocks roasting in the same maple-burning oven.  Libations were abundant and varied – ranging from wine to water and everything in between. The formula was ‘potluck,’ so guests came laden with delicious vegetarian and side dishes, and scrumptious desserts.

A fun time was had by all – or so we’re told – and we’ve already started thinking about next year’s event: maybe a déjeuner sur l’herbe on the river’s edge…

But half the basket season still to go! Indeed, this week — Week 8 — marks the midpoint of the official 2011 growing season,  even though the end of summer is just around the corner. The annual Perseid meteor shower peaked last week, our late season tomatoes are ripening on the vine, we’ve picked our watermelon already, the corn harvest is in full swing, and our first squash (spaghetti) is ripe for the picking. Morning and evening dews are heavy, dawn is a bit later, dusk a bit earlier…all signs of summer drawing to a close. End of season soccer tournaments, school supply lists and one last road trip echo nature’s prelude to Fall.

March is a difficult month for vegetable farmers – a real no man’s land. It snows, it rains, it snows again, and daily temperatures go up and down like a yo-yo. It’s not as if we could begin fieldwork anyway – even without snow the soil will remain waterlogged well into April, and no self-respecting farmer ventures into his/her fields under such inauspicious conditions. It’s just that March is that one month too much of winter, the one month that should be removed from the calendar altogether. We are convinced this explains why some farmers, including yours truly, populate their barns with animals of all types – sheep, cows, horses, chickens – and take solace in the routine of daily animal chores that help fill long winter days. Winter months are also ideal for poring through the abundant agricultural literature we amass on our bedside tables whose call beckons but is rarely heeded during the busy growing season. We subscribe to several agricultural magazines and are frequent book-buyers – so our bedside stacks are high. Without the winter months to whittle them down to size, we would have to change our reading regimen.

For those of you interested in res agricola, we suggest the following news publications: Quebec’s own agricultural Pravda, La terre de chez nous, published by l’UPA (Union des producteurs agricoles); “Small Farm Canada” and their excellent articles on diversified agriculture; and “Growing for Market,” an American magazine with a particular focus on the CSA (community-supported agriculture) model. We also suggest the following writers we have found of particular interest. First, the American environmentalist and journalism professor Michael Pollan, author of, among others, “The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals” (2006), and “The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s-Eye View of the World” (2001), two New York Times best-sellers well worth reading. Second, American free-lancer (now organic farmer) Kristin Kimball, author of “The Dirty Life: On Farming, Food, and Love” (2010), a personal account of her transition from a completely urban existence in New York City to a completely agricultural existence on a farm on the shores of Lake Champlain. Third, québécois academic David Dupont, author of a social history of farming in Quebec entitled Une brève histoire de l’agriculture au Québec: de la conquête du sol à la mondialisation. And finally, Florence Thinard, author of Une seule Terre pour nourrir les hommes – a family book published by Gallimard Jeunesse, a thoughtful and beautifully illustrated introduction to the “fundamental link between agriculture and food, between Earth and plate.”